Jonah an the Whale. Book of Jonah

 Jonah 1- 3:10

   Jonah was given a message to deliver to the people of Nineveh,   but Jonah was'n't to keen too deliver the message.  In fact Jonah went and ran in the opposite direction and went on board a ship. 

   Sometime after the ship had sailed out to sea, a violent storm arose and blew up and the sailors and all those on board were quite scared and frightended due to the ferocity of the storm.  To lighten the ship so it was more able to ride out the strom more easily, the sailors threw a lot of their goods etc overboard ( which in thoses days sailors did in such situations ),  but the storm was still raging and Jonah knew instinctively, that in some way he was responsible due to him being disobedient to Father God and running away from Father God, and from giving the message Father God had for Nineveh, and going in the opposite direction suggested that they threw him overboard, so they did and the storm ceased, and Father God arranged for a big fish possibly a whale to swallow Jonah.  The whale swallowed Jonah, and Jonah was in the tummy of the whale for three days and three nights ( Jesus refers to this story in the Gospels in reference to his death and ressurection as Matthew 12:12:38-45. and as recorded in the Old Testament in the book of Jonah. Jonah 1-3:10.

    After three days the whale spat Jonah out, and Jonah swam or drifted to the nearest shore. and a bit later went to Nineveh to give the message that he Jonah should have  given  in the first place.

     I have reason to believe due to his appearance having been in the tummy of the whale for those three days and nights, that the people of Nineveh believed Jonah to such an an extent that they covered themselves and their animals and cattle in sackclosh and ashes as a serious outward sign of repentance after having heard Jonah, as they were very wicked and bad but in Father Gods mercy He wanted them to turn away from their wicked and bad ways, (see end notes) hence sending Jonah, who at first ran in the opposite direction as mentioned, but due to his extraordinary expericence with the whale listened to Jonah, and they repented and covered themselves and even their animals  in sackcloth and ashes as mentioned, which was at the time a sign of of repentance, and in repenting, Father God had mercy on them and withdrew his anger and was'n't angry with them any more. 

Notes :-

1)  Though its not mentioned, Father God did have mercy, and turned His wrath and anger away due to the seriousness of their repentance in covering themselves and  their animals and cattle in sackcloth and ashes. Jonah 3:7-8,9.

2)  There have been recorded instances of people who have been swallowed by whales and lived and whose appearances have been extraordianarly changed due to the experience; and due to Jonah's appearance the people of Ninevah listened to the message that Father God had for them given by Jonah.

 3)  They were so moved by Jonahs message of Father God, that they did not only cover themselves in sackcloth an ashes  but their animals and cattle too, bless them.

4)  Ashes accompanied sackcloth in times of national disaster or repenting from sin. Esther 4:1, for instance, describes Mordecai tearing his clothes, putting on sackcloth and ashes, and walking out into the city “wailing loudly and bitterly.” This was Mordecai’s reaction to King Xerxes’ declaration giving the wicked Haman authority to destroy the Jews (see Esther 3:8–15). Mordecai was not the only one who grieved. “In every province to which the edict and order of the king came, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping, and wailing. Many lay in sackcloth and ashes” (Esther 4:3). The Jews responded to the devastating news concerning their race with sackcloth and ashes, showing their intense grief and distress.

Sackcloth and ashes were also used as a public sign of repentance and humility before God. When Jonah declared to the people of Nineveh that God was going to destroy them for their wickedness, everyone from the king on down responded with repentance, fasting, and sackcloth and ashes (Jonah 3:5–7). They even put sackcloth on their animals (verse 8). Their reasoning was, “Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish” (verse 9). This is interesting because the Bible never says that Jonah’s message included any mention of God’s mercy; but mercy is what they received. It’s clear that the Ninevites’ donning of sackcloth and ashes was not a meaningless show. God saw genuine change—a humble change of heart represented by the sackcloth and ashes—and it caused Him to “relent” and not bring about His plan to destroy them (Jonah 3:10).

https://www.gotquestions.org/sackcloth-and-ashes.html

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